Tottenham should not have started Harry Kane against Burnley, according to talkSPORT host Adrian Durham.
The England captain made his return from an ankle injury in the 2-1 defeat to Sean Dyche’s side on Saturday lunchtime.
Despite scoring his side’s goal, Durham has suggested that Kane should have started.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “He shouldn’t have started. Putting him in the starting lineup sent out the following message: ‘The rest aren’t good enough’. The message is ‘Spurs can’t do anything without Harry Kane’. The message is ‘he must start, at all costs he has to start’.
“They rushed him back, he got back quicker than expected, so get him straight in there.
“What does it say to Lucas Moura? What does it say to Llorente? They’re sitting on the bench despite the fact that while Kane was out they won every Premier League game.”
“Kane shouldn’t have started!”
“The message it sends is that the rest is that they’re not good enough.” ?
“While Kane was out, they’ve won every single Premier League game.” ?@talkSPORTDrive explains why #THFC we’re wrong to start Kane vs Burnley. pic.twitter.com/cnLWYkLoFx
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) February 25, 2019
OPINION
Durham is a proper wind-up merchant, and even he must doubt the wisdom of what he says sometimes. Yes, there is a certain logic to what he is saying, and maybe Spurs did rush their star man back when it would have been wiser to keep faith in the players that have served them well over the past few weeks, but if Kane is truly fit and ready to feature, how can he not play? He is by far the most impressive player at Mauricio Pochettino’s disposal, and not playing him would have surely caused an uproar. If Spurs had won then none of this would be a point of discussion, and there are no guarantees that they would have seen of Burnley had they elected to start somebody else. As it was, Kane was their biggest goal threat, and did score his side’s equaliser, but it wasn’t to be enough. Ultimately, Durham is dealing in counterfactual hypotheticals to stir up attention.